Year E3029

Ocea

As I watched the bright green clouds float by, a loud thud had me up and crawling to the edge of the roof. I peeked over the lava rock wall to see Thomas throwing away a garbage bag and checking his phone.

His head looked around quickly, and then he dashed inside. It was odd to see someone with a phone. The MOS doesn't allow cell phones among the chipped, but some would sneak them when they can. Knowing this had me smiling at the fact that Thomas wasn't listening to the Men Of Suits.

I could hear Thomas below talking to a woman. "Hey, I am out of here." His voice got louder as he neared the back door again. "See you later," he said, while slamming the door shut.

He looked up and down the alley, then took off jogging away from the store. I glanced across the city to see the pink sun on the horizon. The green clouds turned a grey and orange color. I slowly crawled my way off the roof, heading toward Thomas.

Between the tall buildings in the dark shadows, I kept my distance. I needed to make sure Thomas didn't catch me following his tail. My head was down as I watched my feet. The couple in front of me stopped at a shop as I ducked behind another man. With my eyes still on Thomas, I watched him scan the street and enter a shop.

The rain poured down, soaking up my hair. My shoes stomped in the quickly made puddles. I ran up to the shop, looking at the neon sign and reading it simultaneously as someone behind me.

"The Night Owl."

I looked over my shoulder to see Wyatt glancing up at the sign. His eyes then looked at me as he gave me a face of not knowing what this shop was.

"Oh, man!" I heard Stopper's voice echo around. "This place is dope."

"What?" I questioned him as he walked up with a skip in his step. He brushed back his green hair, then smiled while waving at a young woman walking by us, flirting with everything.

"It's a secret club," Dylan's voice chimed behind me. I spun around to see him leaning against the wall next to the front door. He shook his head, springing water from his hat.

Stop wrapped his arms around my shoulders, talking in my ear. "There's only one reason for him to be here." He laughed. "Alcohol and ass."

Dylan pushed off the wall, walking closer to us. "Actually, no." He pulled off his baseball cap, showing off the dyed red hair underneath. "The bartender here is a cyber hacker, so tons come here to speak to him too."

Wyatt stepped up to us, opening the door. "Either way, we need to go in," he said while waving for me to walk through.

As I strolled past a wall of smoke, the place darkened as dim pink lights only lit up the counter at the front of the shop. A young safforian glanced up at us with an attitude. The female played with her bright yellow hair while popping the gum in her mouth.

"What can I get for you?" she asked.

Stopper stepped forward with a smile on his face. "We are here to drink some ass and fuck some alcohol."

She laughed as her yellow cat-like eyes widened at Stopper's joke. "Follow the green lights," she said while pointing toward another door at the back of the store.

I leaned closer to Wyatt. "You sure about this?"

Dylan looped his arm through mine. "Ahhh, don't worry so much, Ocea," he said, pulling me along. "Plus, you have us."

I laughed, looking over at Stop's face. "Having you three here is what I'm worried about."

"What?" Stopper let out with hurt in his voice. "We are very loveable creatures, OKAY!" He laughed. "Well—" He shrugged his shoulders. "That's what Dylan's mom says the next morning."

Dylan's head looked back at Stopper quicker than a hound dog chasing a rabbit. "Mom jokes aren't cool anymore, man," he glared at him.

Wyatt and I looked at each other, then walked down the dark stairwell, trying to ignore the bickering guys behind us. The green lights led us to the bottom, veering to the right. As we walked down a long hallway, the music started getting louder and louder.

When we reached the end of the lights, the hallway opened to an underground nightclub. Women and men of both species danced on tables, slowly removing clothes and gaining extra money. The lights flashed in multiple colors, causing me to cover my eyes when the bright ones hit correctly.

A purple safforian strolled to me with her tray table full of moon shots. The neon blue glow reflected off the glass as the moon cricket screamed at us with a high pitch. Many love moon shots, but I was never fond of eating insects.

"Moon shots are free tonight," she said, raking her eyes down Stopper.

I felt a grip on my shoulder, seeing Stopper walk up next to me. He pointed around the club, ignoring the server. I followed his gaze, seeing Thomas talking to the guy behind the counter, handing out drinks.

"That's the cyber hacker I know about," Dylan said while walking up to the other side of me. He waved his hand at the server. "No, thank you."

She rolled her eyes, then smiled at the next group that walked into the club.

The bartender handed Thomas a rocklock sculpture. He opened the device quickly, displaying a hologram. Clear enough for us to see. It was me, posing on the rock like a little minion.

"Looks like he's been looking for you," Stopper said.

Thomas turned around, smiling hugely, then shutting the rock. He pocketed it to talk to the bartender. Thomas had my complete attention, so I missed the bar fight behind me until it was too late.

"Dude, get the fuck off her!" a deep voice yelled as someone shoved me from behind.

The bartender then glanced our way. He did a double take, then pointed at me, informing Thomas.

"Shit," I said, but I didn't react in time for Thomas to look at me from across the club.

Stopper laughed while shaking his head. "Well, I'm going to go have some fun now," he said, walking toward a blonde girl. She had been smiling at him since we walked in.

"What?" I said.

"I'm with him," Wyatt added. "I say go get to know Thomas. He wants to know you," he said while following Stop deep into the club.

"You have got to be kidding me," I said under my breath as I watched Thomas trying to cross the club toward me. He made eye contact with me and then slowly smiled.

"What are you going to do?" Dylan asked in my ear.

I looked away from Thomas and over at him. "I don't know," I said, not knowing I would get into this mess.

Dylan pointed toward a different door. "That's the exit." I looked over at it as Dylan kept talking. "I say you leave now and let him chase you." Dylan laughed. "Sexy cat-and-mouse game."

My eyes rolled, and then I glared over at him. I wanted to argue with Dylan, but I didn't have time to think. I looked back at the door and proceeded toward it with Thomas on my heels.

The door heaved open slowly because of how heavy it was. An orange tint masked the alleyway as smoke from a man outside the door blew up in my face. I coughed out, waving my hands around and trying to fan away the pot cloud.

"Hey there, beautiful," the man said, grabbing my wrist. "Getting dark out. Do you want to come back to my place? Sneak around the Men Of Suits?"

My wrist burned from the grip he had on it. I yanked away as Thomas burst through the door. His curly hair bounced with his eyes, seeing the gross man I ran into in the alley.

Thomas stepped in front of me, shoving the guy to the ground. Water splashed up from the street as I stood back, watching to see what Thomas would do next. He was hesitant with every move he made, like Thomas knew he shouldn't be doing any of this and should be back home, listening to the chip in his arm.

His round brown eyes looked at me with fear. "Now what?" he asked while the drunk guy got lost on the ground.

I opened my mouth and then closed it, tilting my head while admiring his facial features. Thomas wasn't the teenage kid I used to have a crush on anymore. He was older, with a depth in the browns of his eyes. The witty teenager was gone, leaving a man of mystery. He stepped closer to me, swallowing a lump in his throat. His lips parted as he tried to figure out what to say in the buzzing alleyway.

"Hey, what are you three doing?" a deep voice echoed as a bright light shined onto my face.

"Looks like we need to run," I said, grabbing Thomas and running in the opposite direction as the cop.

We rounded the corner, bumping into a woman. Her angry eyes looked me up and down, then glanced behind us to see the cop on our tail. Her coat was tight against her chest. The upper pocket had a badge pinned to it for being part of the Men Of Suits.

"You two will have to come with me," she said with authority.

I raised my hands in the air like I would give up easily. "Sorry, mam." I let out a tear. "This man isn't a cop." I sobbed to her, getting on my knees. "We think he is a Savior."

She looked over at Thomas, who didn't attend acting classes as a kid. He froze, then glanced at me on the ground.

"M-my wife," Thomas stuttered out, then kneeled with me. "We are so scared."

The woman pulled out her gun, pointing it at us. "Wife?" she questioned, knowing Thomas was lying because I was a safforian. "Both of you don't move."

I glared at Thomas. "What the shit?" I whispered to him before swinging my legs around, sending her to the ground.

I grabbed Thomas, and we took off running again. We zig-zagged around the people on the streets, trying to hide in the crowd, but the cop and the stiff were right on us.

"Nice going, genius," I said to Thomas with a laugh, seeing the tall orange fence in the distance. We will lose them in the lorna plants.

"Sorry, I panicked, Ocea," Thomas said between breaths.

I picked up my pace, hoping he kept with me. He noticed my sudden distance and took more significant steps. The orange fence would be simple for me to climb, but Thomas would have trouble.

The city lights behind us glowed along the fence line, painting a pattern on the other side. I glanced at Thomas as he gave me a scared look, knowing our next move was to jump.

With long strides, I climbed over the fence, swinging my body around and landing my feet on the other side. Thomas was halfway up, reaching his fingers over, pulling himself up. Once he was on top, he leaped off without thinking. He tripped forward, landing on his knees and palms.

"Stop before we shoot!" a loud voice came from the other side of the fence.

"We got to keep running, Thomas," I said as we sped into the lorna plants.

Thomas laughed, uneasy and out of breath. "See, you know me," he said, keeping close behind me. "How else do you know my name?"

"Now is not the time," I said, tripping over a rock but catching myself.

The tall green leaves smacked me as we weaved around, losing the ones behind us. I reached for Thomas's hand, guiding him in a particular direction as we ran by the blood tree. All I could focus on was my breath beating in my ears as the voices behind us muffled until nothing.

Thank you for reading. Please share, comment, and push that beautiful star.